The holiday season
Well, in the interests of being slightly more cheery than recent posts, I thought I'd do a review of one of my best Christmasses ever. There were several reasons for this....
People - There were several people involved in making this an awesome year. First and foremost was definitely Lili - at nearly 2, she's just about old enough to really get into it this year. The look on her face at every single gift she got was fantastic - from the main pressie (an electric quad bike) to the little chalk board, or the aqua draw, or even the tiny teddies and clothes sent from Oz - she loved it all.
Charlie was also in an awesome mood this year. Me and her seem to be getting on better and better, especially now I'm back to work and out from under her feet! She really seemed to enjoy the holiday, and though she's slightly flattened by a couple of long days - her FMS is kicking back in full force now - she's still smiling!
Bob - he came up to visit for his first Christmas not working in someway, and really got to relax. It was a fantastic time. We had a couple of really cool talks, mostly while walking the hound in the park at night. He was also well chuffed with the hat - but more of that later.
Last but not least, Helen B came to vist. Was really nice to see her, and actually chat and relax in a non-LRP setting. She's such a cool person, and I'm a little regretful that I didn't make an effort to get to know her better a long time ago. But this isn't a time for regrets, so enough of that. Suffice to say it was awesome having her visit, even if only for an evening.
Food - As anyone who has spent more than a couple of evenings at my house will tell you, I love cooking. Even Christmas dinner - I just love it. But this year, it all went so smoothly, I was amazed.
Charlie did breakfast, which was kinda cool. It consisted of scrambled eggs with chives on toast, and topped with either juniper and birch smoked salmon, or Prosciutto di Parma. Absolutely lovely.
Dinner was almost entirely my doing. We had a turrkey crown, slow-roasted with bacon. We also had a gammon, glazed with black treacle, mixed spices and red chilli flakes. That was truly wonderful, and a nice change from the normal honey and cloves. To go with these, we had Charlie's famour sausage meat and chestnut stuffing, roast spuds (perfect, yet again!!), honey glazed parsnips, brussels with chestnuts, garlic and bacon, mashed carrot and swede and sugarsnap peas. For pudding, we had mulled wine jellies with vanilla infused cream, and a chocolate gateaux (bought) with extra thick cream .
Finally, in the evening, we had cold meats, pickles and cheeses.
I'll update the rest later
People - There were several people involved in making this an awesome year. First and foremost was definitely Lili - at nearly 2, she's just about old enough to really get into it this year. The look on her face at every single gift she got was fantastic - from the main pressie (an electric quad bike) to the little chalk board, or the aqua draw, or even the tiny teddies and clothes sent from Oz - she loved it all.
Charlie was also in an awesome mood this year. Me and her seem to be getting on better and better, especially now I'm back to work and out from under her feet! She really seemed to enjoy the holiday, and though she's slightly flattened by a couple of long days - her FMS is kicking back in full force now - she's still smiling!
Bob - he came up to visit for his first Christmas not working in someway, and really got to relax. It was a fantastic time. We had a couple of really cool talks, mostly while walking the hound in the park at night. He was also well chuffed with the hat - but more of that later.
Last but not least, Helen B came to vist. Was really nice to see her, and actually chat and relax in a non-LRP setting. She's such a cool person, and I'm a little regretful that I didn't make an effort to get to know her better a long time ago. But this isn't a time for regrets, so enough of that. Suffice to say it was awesome having her visit, even if only for an evening.
Food - As anyone who has spent more than a couple of evenings at my house will tell you, I love cooking. Even Christmas dinner - I just love it. But this year, it all went so smoothly, I was amazed.
Charlie did breakfast, which was kinda cool. It consisted of scrambled eggs with chives on toast, and topped with either juniper and birch smoked salmon, or Prosciutto di Parma. Absolutely lovely.
Dinner was almost entirely my doing. We had a turrkey crown, slow-roasted with bacon. We also had a gammon, glazed with black treacle, mixed spices and red chilli flakes. That was truly wonderful, and a nice change from the normal honey and cloves. To go with these, we had Charlie's famour sausage meat and chestnut stuffing, roast spuds (perfect, yet again!!), honey glazed parsnips, brussels with chestnuts, garlic and bacon, mashed carrot and swede and sugarsnap peas. For pudding, we had mulled wine jellies with vanilla infused cream, and a chocolate gateaux (bought) with extra thick cream .
Finally, in the evening, we had cold meats, pickles and cheeses.
I'll update the rest later